Anomalous Entropic Effects in Physical Systems Associated with Collective Consciousness
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Plain English Summary
Picture a worldwide network of electronic coin-flippers running nonstop for twenty-plus years, producing six trillion random bits. That's the Global Consciousness Project, and this paper deep-dives its full dataset. Using multiscale entropy (measuring how orderly data is at different scales), the real data proved significantly more structured than scrambled controls. A pattern emerged at 8-to-15-minute intervals — matching human attention rhythms. The truly eyebrow-raising part? The effect showed up even on unremarkable days with no big global events, hinting at something continuous rather than episodic. Important caveats: it appeared in a pay-to-publish journal, and the authors acknowledge many analytical choices that could inflate results.
Research Notes
Most comprehensive reanalysis of the full GCP database, extending beyond the formal 500-event experiment. Argues for continuous collective-consciousness signal detectable at human-attention time scales. Central to Controversy #8. Published in pay-to-publish Physics Essays; many analyst degrees of freedom acknowledged.
Reanalysis of the complete Global Consciousness Project database (August 1998 – December 2021, ~6 trillion random bits from a worldwide RNG network) using multiscale entropy (MSE) and a novel deconvolution technique. MSE found original data significantly more negentropic than scrambled controls (z = –3.45, p = 0.0003, es = –0.16). Deconvolution detected significant temporal structure at 8–15 minute scales (z = 5.08 vs controls, p = 1.9 × 10⁻⁷, es = 0.43). Crucially, the effect was present on days with no pre-selected global events (z = –6.22, p = 7 × 10⁻¹¹), suggesting a continuous rather than episodic mind-matter relationship.
Links
Related Papers
Extends
Same Research Program
- New Year's Eve as a Case Study in Experimental Metaphysics: Exploring Global Consciousness in Random Physical Systems — Radin, Dean I (2025)
- Searching for Global Consciousness: A Seventeen Year Exploration — Bancel, Peter A (2017)
- Correlations of Continuous Random Data with Major World Events — Nelson, Roger D (2002)
Cites
- Correlations of Random Binary Sequences with Pre-Stated Operator Intention: A Review of a 12-Year Program — Jahn, Robert G (1997)
- A Double-Slit Diffraction Experiment to Investigate Claims of Consciousness-Related Anomalies — Ibison, Michael (1998)
- The MegaREG Experiment: Replication and Interpretation — Dobyns, Y. H (2004)
- The GCP Event Experiment: Design, Analytical Methods, Results — Bancel, Peter A (2008)
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📋 Cite this paper
Radin, Dean (2023). Anomalous Entropic Effects in Physical Systems Associated with Collective Consciousness. Physics Essays. https://doi.org/10.4006/0836-1398-36.1.77
@article{radin_2023_anomalous,
title = {Anomalous Entropic Effects in Physical Systems Associated with Collective Consciousness},
author = {Radin, Dean},
year = {2023},
journal = {Physics Essays},
doi = {10.4006/0836-1398-36.1.77},
}